Berlin driver won't serve time in death of Fitchburg motorcyclist

FITCHBURG — After emotional testimony from the victim's family members, a 22-year-old Berlin student was sentenced in the death of a Fitchburg motorcyclist in July 2012.

Fitchburg District Court Judge Andrew Mandell ordered Kenneth R. Amici, a junior at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, to serve 12 hours of community service and take a defensive driving course after he admitted there were sufficient facts to find him guilty of negligent driving, and the case was continued without a finding for nine months. Mr. Amici was also ordered not to drive during that time and will lose his license until the Registry of Motor Vehicles decides to return it.

Mr. Amici was facing charges in the death of Paul Deloge, 60, of Fitchburg. Mr. Deloge's wife, Debra A Deloge, 58, was severely injured in the accident on a one-way section of Boulder Drive. Mr. Amici was initially also charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving. That charge was dismissed by Judge Mandell at the request of the prosecution and by agreement with the Deloge family. Mr. Amici was additionally found responsible of violating a municipal motor vehicle ordinance for overtaking another vehicle and fined $50.

Assistant District Attorney John H. Melander Jr. said that Mr. Amici was driving his 2002 Toyota Sequoia in the right travel lane of Boulder Drive, towing a U-Haul trailer with an antique car in it. He swerved into the left lane in an attempt to pull into a TD Bank parking lot after missing his turn. He did not see the Deloges' motorcycle in the left lane and hit them.

In addressing the court, Christopher P. Deloge, son of Paul and Debra Deloge, said that Sunday is a day his family will never forget.

"It was a time in my life I will never be able to forget," he said. "The sadness, the rage, the sorrow and the sleepless nights have all left permanent scars."

Mr. Deloge said his father was his friend as well as his father.

"He was our mentor, our fix-anything go-to man," he said. "He was my baseball coach, my partner in Red Sox venting. There are still times I think I should text him before breaking baseball news, movie news or car questions."

Mr. Deloge said the loss suffered by his family will never be properly compensated.

"Whether it is months without a license or years, no slap on the wrist will ever serve the proper justice this great loss deserves," he said.

Mr. Deloge's sister, Jenni A. Deloge, provided a written statement that was read before sentencing. She said she was the one who was informed her father was dead and mother badly injured. She said she had to contact family members to inform them about the accident.

"None of those calls would compare to the fact that I had to see my mother in the emergency room with serious injuries and her asking me where dad was," she said. "The look in her eyes and the cry that she made is like nothing I ever want to deal with ever again. I had to tell my mother that her best friend, her soul mate, her high school sweetheart was gone.

"Our lives ... never will be the same from that point on," she said.

Ms. Deloge said her mother suffered fractured vertebrae, a brain bleed, fractured ribs, a shattered arm and a severe cut on her leg. She said that while being cared for she suffered a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics she was given. The family held up the funeral and at the last minute, it was decided her mother would attend assisted by a private ambulance service and nurses. During the service she lay on a gurney, too ill to take part.

"I never would have imagined that I would have to bury my father while my mother lay in pain on a gurney, unable to hug her or to take the pain away," Ms. Deloge said.

The day after the funeral, Ms Deloge said, her mother suffered a pulmonary embolism and was in the hospital 45 days and then in rehabilitation for a few weeks.

Mr. Amici's lawyer, Nicole C. Longton, said had it not been for the tragedy, her client was not the type of person who would be in court. She said he had no criminal history and was a mechanical engineering major at UMass-Lowell.

Turning around and facing the Deloge family at the suggestion of Judge Mandell, Mr. Amici said not a day goes by that he does not think about the accident.

"Words cannot describe how terrible I feel knowing that someone has lost their husband, father, brother, or even close friend," he said. "I think about his family and imagine the pain they are going through and I feel awful."

Mr. Amici said he knows nothing he can say would bring Mr. Deloge back, or make the family's pain go away.

"But I want his family to know I am truly sorry for everything they have gone through," he said.

Contact George Barnes at gbarnes@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgebarnesTG